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Planning for Environmental Protection 165

accidental release of oil. The Occupational Safety and Health Admin-
istration's "Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response"
(HASWOPER) requires a plan to protect worker health and safety in
cleanup operations at waste sites.

5.6 EMPLOYEE TRAINING

For any environmental protection plan to be effective, it must
be understood and accepted by those who must implement it. Best
results are normally obtained by establishing a formal training program
for all employees who make decisions that can impact the environ-
ment. Once developed, environmental protection plans will serve as
handy guides for all the people to use in making the best decisions
regarding wastes.
A critical step in the effective implementation of the environmental
protection plan is to identify the people involved with the actual
decisions impacting the environment and to effectively communicate
the plan to them. Employees need easy access to information on
approved methods for handling, treating, and disposing of different
waste streams, as well as applicable regulations. In many cases, the
first- and second-line production and drilling supervisors will be the
primary users of the plan. It is important that they are provided clear,
concise directives on what is required of their operations. These
directives should include appropriate background information.
Because different operations within a company have different needs,
it may be necessary to have a series of separate plans and training
programs to meet those diverse needs. For example, managers, engi-
neers, field foremen, and pumpers need different information to
complete their tasks. A one-page summary can be prepared for use in
the field that gives a quick reference on how each waste is to be
handled. This page can be incorporated into a plant operator's or
pumper's field book and posted on bulletin boards. A detailed manual
giving more complete information should be prepared and kept as a
reference manual in various offices. One such reference manual is
available from the Canadian Petroleum Association (1990).
When the plan is written, it is important that it be composed so the
field people can easily understand it, i.e., it must be user-friendly. To
ensure readability, the plan and the manuals should be reviewed by
field personnel before being adopted. Compliance with the plan by